THIS week there has been more concern about the death of marine life on the North East coast as dead and dying mussels, starfish, crabs and razor clams have been washed up at Saltburn.

Given the die-offs on this stretch of coast in 2021 and 2022, there were legitimate concern and questions about whether history was repeating itself.

In the end, the Environment Agency issued a statement saying it was “a natural event” and “normal for this time of year”, particularly after a “storm event”. Anyone who has walked regularly on our beaches knows that the sea often throws up strange things so this seems a rational explanation.

In a way, we understand the exasperation of some of our area’s Conservative politicians who reacted angrily on social media to the questions. They must see conspiracy theories resurfacing on every tide.

But the Government was slow to investigate the cause of the die-off, saying initially it was algal bloom. This slowness gave time for reputable university scientists to investigate and suggest a chemical released by dredging at Teesmouth might be responsible. 

Then the official report eventually came in January. It dismissed the dredging theory and it also dismissed the algal bloom theory, saying that “a clear and convincing single cause” could not be identified but that a novel pathogen was most likely.

If a novel pathogen were killing off all the sheep in the dales, there’d be a rush to find out more, but no further steps have been taken to explain what killed off creatures in the sea.

A black hole in our knowledge will always suck in conspiracy theories. Wise politicians should be helping to fill that hole by commissioning further research, not adding to the febrile atmosphere on social media.